This invention relates generally to multi-modality imaging systems, and more particularly to shortening the footprint of the multi-modality imaging system without comprising the scanning range.
Multi-modality imaging systems employ a plurality of imaging systems, such as a Nuclear Medicine (NM) imaging system and a Computed Tomography (CT) imaging system that are aligned with respect to each other. In some applications, attenuation correction of the NM image data may be accomplished by acquiring attenuation data with the CT imaging system. The combination of the two sets of image data shows the relationship between the emission or NM image data and structural elements shown by the CT image data. The two sets of image data need to be registered with respect to each other so that the data sets may be properly combined.
The system has a patient bed that provides a pallet for supporting the patient during imaging. The pallet travels through the two modalities to move anatomy of interest into the fields of view of each of the imaging systems. The pallet length may be extended to increase the length of travel and to increase the scanning range of the modality furthest from the table. However, a larger room is needed to accommodate the extended travel length of the pallet. Another problem is that the portion of the pallet extending away from the bed may sag under the weight of the patient. This may occur even without an extended length pallet due to the weight of the patient. This sag results in misregistration of the two sets of image data as the anatomy is positioned lower or closer to the floor in the data set acquired furthest from the table.